-1"We sat side by side in the morning light and looked out at the future together." - Unknown
Disclaimer: I clearly don't own any of this except for sorta kinda maybe the story line…but I don't even really own that. So basically what do I have? At the moment one very annoying 2 year old niece and 2 Reese's peanut butter eggs. (Hint: my niece really likes both peanut butter and chocolate.) So anyways JKR owns all of this…here we go, now on with the story…
Chapter 4 - In Which There is a Birthday Surprise
-- August --
Harry was pacing his room. Now that there was only the remaining four Weasleys, Hermione and Harry, all four teens got their own rooms. Tomorrow was Ginny's birthday and he still didn't have a gift for her. Truth be told, he still had absolutely no clue what she wanted. Ron and Hermione had told him that whatever he got her would be fine and Mrs. Weasley had agreed. And when he had asked Ginny she said that all she only really wanted was him, and she already had that.
'What the bloody hell am I going to get her?' Harry laid down on his bed and thought for several more minutes. All of a sudden he shot up.
'Me! That's it!' he thought as he hurtled down the stairs. When he got to the kitchen he was out of breath. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, who were all seated at the table eating breakfast, looked up at him. Mrs. Weasley turned around to face him.
"Harry! Good morning dear! Are you alright?"
"Molly where's Arthur?" he asked ignoring her question. Mrs. Weasley had insisted that he and Hermione call them Molly and Arthur.
"I believe hes out in the shed." Harry ran out before any of them could ask any questions. Harry arrived at the shed and knocked on the door, when he heard Mr. Weasley tell him to come in he walked in and shut the door behind him.
"Arthur, could I talk to you?" Mr. Weasley looked up from the muggle light switch that he was tinkering with nodded for Harry to continue as he turned fully around to face Harry.
"Well you see, sir. Erm…I was wondering. Well…"
"Harry spit it out boy!" Mr. Weasley chuckled. Harry laughed nervously, and began wringing his hands together.
"Right. You see, I was thinking about Ginny's birthday present and, I've decided what I want do get her." Mr. Weasley nodded urging Harry to continue.
"Mr. Weasley, I would like to ask your daughter to marry me." Arthur stared at the boy, no, man, in front of him.
"Why?" he asked.
"Why do I want to marry her?" Harry asked, confused at the older mans question. When Arthur nodded he continued.
"I love her. I think I have since my second year, maybe even when her and Molly helped me though the barrier at the station. I would do anything for your daughter sir." Mr. Weasley looked at Harry, as if contemplating what Harry had just said.
"How do I know that you really love her and that you would do anything for and you wouldn't ever hurt her. She was so hurt when you left on your Horcrux mission. How do I know you won't do that again? You have to understand Harry, I do trust you, but this is my little girl we're talking about."
"Arthur, when I had to sacrifice myself that night, I had to walk into the forbidden forest. And sir I had to walk right past Ginny. I wanted so badly to take off my cloak and talk to her. But I knew if I did, she would manage to talk me out of it. Shes the one person who has the power to do that. I had to keep going, as much as it hurt, because I knew that when I died, Voldemort would be able to be defeated, and my only thought was that even though I wouldn't be here anymore, Ginny would be safe. And that was all that mattered. That's still all that matters. Sir, I would never hurt your daughter. And I never ever will leave her again, it was to hard the first time. I don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon." Mr. Weasley continued to stare at Harry. Then after several minutes, he nodded.
"Ok…yes, ok. But Harry if you ever do hurt her again…well lets just say that I have had practice with the unforgivable curses. All of them." Harry nodded paling slightly, and Mr. Weasley turned back to his workbench to tinker with the light switch.
The next morning Harry woke up at 6:30 due to a light tapping on his window. When he opened the window an owl that he didn't recognize flew in the window and landed on his desk. When he opened the letter he realized it was a ministry owl, which is why he didn't recognize it, and it was from Kingsley, about the auror job.
Dear Harry,
I was wondering if you had thought any about the auror job? I received Ron Weasley's letter excepting the job, but was surprised that I hadn't received one from you yet. I do need to know as soon as possible either way. Please contact me via owl with your response soon. Looking forward to hearing from you.
Kingsley Shacklebolt
Minister of Magic
Floor 6, Office 101
London, England
Harry sighed, he still hadn't answered Kingsley about the job offer. He knew that he was being unfair to Kingsley, but he needed to talk to Ginny more about this. After looking at the clock and noticing the time, he realized he wouldn't be able to fall back to sleep. So he quietly slipped across the hall and into Ginny's room. When he saw her he smiled. She was sleeping on her stomach, sprawled out across the bed, one arm hanging off, and her hair fanning out around her head. She shifted slightly, leaving Harry just enough room to slide into the bed next to her. He laid down and turning to face her, slung his arm around her waist and kissed her on the forehead. When she didn't wake up he whispered in her ear.
"Ginny, love, wake up." She mumbled something Harry couldn't understand and turned away from him. He tried again, a little louder this time.
"Ginny, wake up. It's your birthday." She groaned and pulled the covers over her head. Chuckling Harry tried again.
"Come on Gin, it's your 17th birthday. Wake up." She pulled a pillow under the blanket and over her head. While mumbling, still incoherently. Harry though for a moment, then tried to pull the blankets back. But he realized that even though she was sleeping, she still held a firm grip on the blankets. Harry left her alone for several minutes and when she emerged from under the blankets and her pillow he waited several more minutes before he started to kiss her, slowly at first, but then Ginny started to respond. When he realized that she was in fact awake, he pulled back and looked down at her.
"Good morning love." he said quietly, smiling.
"You, Mister Potter sure do know how to wake up a girl. Well, not at first, but I think you finally got the hang of it. You may need a little bit of practice though." she said smirking, and leaning up to kiss him again. When they broke apart she looked up at him.
"You, also have what I would call, 'Morning charm', I do quite enjoy that." he chuckled and leaned down to whisper in her ear.
"Happy 17th birthday Gin." she smiled up at him.
"Thanks. So……" Harry chuckled, knowing what she was about to ask.
"You have to wait Ginny."
"Your morning charm is quickly diminishing." she said giving him a very serious look. Chuckling he answered her.
"You still have to wait. Sorry that how it works." She sat fully upright in the bed now. And as he sat up beside her she said,
"Your morning charm is now completely gone. You have none. Zip. Nada. None. Gone." Harry chuckled and she looked over at him. Then a thought came to her, which, she thought, was genius. She looked up at him and gave him the best puppy dog eyes she could, given that it was still only 7 in the morning.
"Oh come on Gin, that's not even fair!" But Ginny didn't give up. She knew he would cave eventually, it was just a matter of time. Sighing, Harry held up his hands in mock surrender.
"Ok ok I'll give you part of it now. OK? Just stop with the eyes!" Ginny stopped and smiled up at him.
"Ok." Harry just looked at her.
"Well?"
"Hang on. I'll be right back." he said running across the hall to his room. When he returned he sat down next to her and handed her a small wrapped box. She looked up at him and when he nodded she opened it, carefully. When she had unwrapped it she opened the box to reveal a silver necklace with a small heart pendant hanging from it when she took it out and looked at the heart more closely she noticed their initials engraved on the back with a date that she didn't recognize. She looked up at Harry and asked.
"What is that date?" he looked down at her and smiled.
"I'm not telling you, you have to figure it out. It's part of the other part of your present." she looked up at him still, her eyes full of questions. He handed her a slip of parchment and walked out after kissing her on the forehead. Ginny looked at the closed door with a puzzled look on her face. She shrugged her shoulders and looked down at the small piece of parchment in her hand. She unfolded it and read what Harry had written.
Ginny,
First I'll start off by saying Happy 17th Birthday! Now, the other part of your present is not going to came to you as easily as the first part did. After all I do have some self-control and those puppy dog eyes won't always work on me. As cute as they may be. So as I was saying, or rather writing, your second part of your present will not be so easy. I know that you don't like surprises but I really hope that you'll like this one. Your first clue : Go about your usual morning routine…somewhere along the line you'll find the next clue.
Ginny smiled. Harry could be very sweet. On the other hand he knew that she hated surprises, she would have to have a talk with him about that later. But for know she would play along with his little 'treasure hunt'. She got up, showered, got dressed brushed her teeth and did her hair, the whole time keeping an eye out for the next clue. When she didn't find any she decided to go down to breakfast. She arrived in the kitchen to find Harry deep in conversation with Ron about Quidditch, Hermione with her nose buried in a book, and Molly at stove cooking breakfast. They all looked up wished her a happy birthday and resumed their previous activities. Her mother turned away from the stove, levitating a huge plate heaped with all of her favorite breakfast foods. Pancakes, eggs, sausage links, bacon, toast covered in jam, and biscuits were all placed in front of her. She began to eat as her mother spoke up.
"So Ginny, dear, what do you have planned for today?" Ginny stole a glance over at Harry, who was still deep in conversation with Ron, then looked back at her mother. Shrugging her shoulders she answered her.
"I don't know. Nothing I guess." Molly nodded. Ginny was suddenly overcome with a strong feeling of déjà vu, but she shrugged it of and chalked it up to being that because her mother asked her asked her that same question every year on her birthday.
"Ginny where are you going?" her mother asked her when she had finished her breakfast and started to walk out the door.
"Outside. Why?"
"Well go brush your teeth."
"But I already did, before I came down." Still not turning from the stove Molly answered her youngest.
"Ginny, don't argue. Just go do it please."
"Fine." she huffed as she went back up the stairs. Harry looked up from his conversation with Ron and Hermione looked up from her book.
"Thanks Molly. I had no clue how I was going to get her back up there." Molly only had time to nod before they heard Ginny scream from upstairs. The four smirked and looked at each other then at the stairs expectantly. Sure enough several minutes later Ginny came flying down the stairs at high-speed, clutching something small in her hand, along with a piece of parchment, and a tooth brush. She came to a halt right in front of Harry, who had stood up. She stared up at him with the most serious and intense stare she could muster.
"What?" he asked after a little while.
"I…you…hang on a second. I have to sit down." Harry raised his eyebrows and nodded, guiding her over to a chair. Ginny sat for only a minute before she got up and started pacing. After what seemed like an eternity to Harry she stopped pacing and turned to Harry.
"Seriously?" was all she asked. Harry stared at her, not knowing what to say. Also he didn't completely trust his voice at the moment so he just nodded. She stared at him for another minute, then suddenly she launched herself into his arms. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. Ron was the first to speak up.
"Umm…Ginny? I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that Harry kinda might want an answer." Ginny released her death grip on Harry's neck and slid down so she was standing flat on her feet rather than tippy toed. She looked at Ron and Hermione and her mom, then back at Harry.
"Yes." she said simply. Now it was Harry's turn to looked shocked. When he realized everyone was staring at him he shook his head and cleared his throat.
"Huh? What? Seriously?" Ginny giggled.
"Yes Harry. I would love to marry you." Harry smiled and slid the ring onto her finger. And just then it dawned on Ginny. The date on the back of her necklace. It was the date that she had first met him. At Kings Cross station, the barrier between the muggle train station and Platform 9 3/4. 8 years ago. She smiled.
'This is the best birthday ever.'
Ok first off I would like to say thanks to Tejana, Dueler312, ilikepie2013, IheartHP95, and Imperio-youloveme for all reviewing. Thanks so much guys! I really appreciate the reviews and your ideas and whatnot for the story!
Secondly - I would like you all to know that this story will have an actual plot, you know conflict and all that, eventually I just need to get the basics established first.
Third - I think that from now on I will be alternating couples for the chapters. Like Harry/Ginny one chapter Ron/Hermione next and so on and so forth with smaller chapters (mainly fillers) added in with other couples.
Fourth - I would love ideas for the story, or any other storys that you may want written. And I also am stuck…I can't decide if Harry should become an auror or not. What are your thoughts on the matter?
